In the early-morning chill of the high desert, almost 100 Native American artisans, most of them jewelry makers, lined up for one of the 68 numbered sales spots on the blocklong front porch at the Palace of the Governors.
It was the first day of winter, and although the temperature was just above freezing, the forecast called for sunny skies and city hotels were full of tourists. That was a promising combination for the vendors hoping to set up shop on what is called the portal (por-TAHL), a prime location facing the central Santa Fe Plaza.
Artisans in the portal program — who must meet rigorous requirements to participate — usually start arriving at 7 a.m. and put down a folded cloth to claim a desired spot; at 8 a.m., they are allowed to spread the cloths out and create their displays. (Tables are not permitted.)
But if by 8 a.m. there are more vendors than available spaces, as can happen during peak tourism seasons, their location for the day becomes a matter of chance.
And so on this December morning, the artisans took turns drawing numbered poker chips out of a bag to see where, or if, they could land a spot. One pumped his fist when he saw his number. “I’m gonna make a million dollars today,” he said to no one in particular.
Jeanelle Whaler, a bead worker from Santo Domingo Pueblo (a community southwest of Santa Fe also known as Kewa Pueblo), drew a blank chip. Normally she and her silversmith husband, Avelino Whaler, would be out of luck, but a couple of dozen additional spaces were made available along the west side of the building and a second drawing was held for them. In the end, all the artisans who stayed around got a spot.
The Whalers settled in for a cold morning — the low winter sun would not reach those west-side spots for a few hours — but at least it would not be a wasted trip. By the time they packed up in late afternoon, they said, they had sold about 20 pieces, ranging from a small $20 beaded bracelet to a $350 silver bracelet with a turquoise stone.
The site of this distinctive, open-air market is rich in history and, in fact, the one-story adobe building is part of the New Mexico History Museum. The Palace of the Governors dates to 1610 (it was the local seat of government in Spanish colonial times), making it the oldest continuously used public building in the United States, according to the museum’s executive director, Billy G. Garrett. The porch was added a couple of centuries later, he said.
When New Mexico became a state in 1912, the building was undergoing the renovations that would give it the “Santa Fe style” it has today, with its protruding wooden rafters, or vigas, Mr. Garrett said. The Spanish word portal, which can mean entryway, porch or portico, probably came into greater use in that era, he said.
Native American artisans likely sold their wares on the portal in the 1800s, Mr. Garrett said in an interview, and the practice would have become more commonplace in the 1920s, with the growth of tourism in the Southwest.
The portal program, established in the 1970s, is administered by the museum with a vendor committee of 10 regular members and four alternates handling basic operations and ensuring compliance with rules governing the quality and authenticity of goods. Every piece offered for sale must have a maker’s mark, and every vendor must display a museum-issued identification card.
Judy Charley is a silversmith who was raised by her Navajo maternal grandparents. Now 63, she has sold on the portal for more than 30 years. She sometimes makes silver cuffs with a representation of the Palace of the Governors stamped on the inside.
“This is the only place I sell,” she said.
No Flea Market
Almost everyone who visits Santa Fe stops by the plaza at some point and is drawn by “the intrigue of the portal,” according to Randy Randall, Santa Fe’s tourism director and interim city manager. “It’s just something that people don’t miss.”
Shows or festivals featuring the work of Native American artisans are held periodically in a number of cities around the United States, but the portal program is unusual — in part, said Mark Sublette, a longtime gallery owner, because the richness of New Mexico’s tribal and pueblo cultures means it runs all year long. “I don’t think there’s anything like it,” he added.
Mr. Sublette owns the Mark Sublette Medicine Man Gallery in Tucson, Ariz., and used to have another gallery in Santa Fe. He said he would often encourage people who were curious about Native American jewelry or pottery to go to the portal, talk to the artisans and buy something, because they could be confident that it had been made by hand.
The history museum thinks of the portal program as a way to engage with local communities and recognize a complicated history. “This entire site is part of an area that was used by Native people before the Spanish came in and established Santa Fe,” Mr. Garrett said. “Part of what we can do in terms of acknowledging the history of our own place is to continue to support Native arts and culture in this way.”
Jewelry accounts for most of the merchandise offered on the portal these days, although some artisans sell pottery, paintings, dolls and other items.
And while it is possible to find items for less than $50, there also are pieces executed with high levels of craftsmanship that are priced in the thousands.
“Some tourists that are unfamiliar with Santa Fe and the portal might view it as a flea market environment. But it certainly isn’t,” said Greg Toya, 64, a jewelry maker who recently was elected by fellow artisans to the 10-member committee.
“Not just anybody is allowed to be there,” he continued. “You have to demonstrate that you are able to make what you sell.”
A member of Jemez Pueblo, Mr. Toya began to learn jewelry-making after his retirement from a career in law enforcement. He said that he became authorized to sell at the portal about a year ago, after three committee members watched him make a ring, a bracelet and a pendant.
With rare exceptions, all of the artisans must be members of federally recognized tribes or pueblos in New Mexico. (A court case in the late 1970s upheld the state’s right to limit the program to Native American vendors.)
The pool of participants is large — 1,200 to 1,500, by Mr. Garrett’s estimate — but not all of them sell regularly or depend on portal business for their livelihood.
The portal is open almost every day, including holidays, though for two weekends every summer the artisans cede the space to two art shows, the Santa Fe Indian Market and the Traditional Spanish Market. And activity at the portal tends to follow the rhythms of tourism in Santa Fe, meaning it is busiest in the summer months and slow in January and February.
Under the portal’s wide overhang, shoppers can find jewelry made in a large range of styles and materials — and talk to the person who made a particular bracelet or pair of earrings. Rodey Guerro, a 67-year-old silversmith whose mother was Diné (Navajo) and father was Apache, said that people increasingly seemed to be interested in making a connection with the portal artists and learning about the pieces they had made.
“They want to know who it is, what it is and how it’s made, and what we represent in New Mexico,” he said.
That was the case with Beth Strickland, an artist from New Zealand on her first trip to the United States, who bought a $175 silver ring with a thumb-size turquoise stone from Dennis Ramone, a Diné silversmith. “He told me how he makes his work, which really makes the experience interesting,” she said. “It’s just going to be a very special memory for me.”
Shopping at the portal is a tradition for Kolt and Julie Moreland of Lubbock, Texas, who were vacationing with their baby daughter and other family members. “My granddad took me here for the first time when I was like 6 years old,” said Mr. Moreland, who now is 30.
Ms. Moreland ended up with a pair of elegant dangling earrings set with green turquoise from Northern Arizona after the jeweler, Wayne Bailon of Santo Domingo Pueblo, reduced the $325 price to $275. (“Every once in a while, I play good guy and I give them some breaks,” Mr. Bailon said when asked about the transaction.)
Patricia Anderson, 74, learned to make silver jewelry from her Navajo father and said that at least five generations of her family, beginning with her grandparents, have sold at the portal. One of her great-granddaughters is now learning the craft.
“I love talking to people and meeting people,” Ms. Anderson said, adding that she had sold her work to tourists from around the world — and recently had met a visitor from the South Pacific island nation of Vanuatu.
But one of Ms. Anderson’s granddaughters, Maya Pino, 34, said she had been so timid at first that she would barely make eye contact with visitors. “I just had to learn how to interact with the customers,” she said, “and, in a way, open up to let them in to see my family, the history, the symbolism and all that.”
And once in a while, something life-changing happens.
Ellouise Toya, who is from Kewa Pueblo, recalled one bitterly cold day in March 1991, when she was a single mother (she now is married to Greg Toya).
A stylish customer who didn’t seem to want to talk, and whose name Ms. Toya never discovered, took her time looking at all the jewelry before buying a selection in cash — an $8,000 windfall that allowed the struggling mother to catch up on her bills and buy materials.
“I did a prayer for her in my language,” said Ms. Toya, 56, who teared up as she recalled the moment. “I cried because I needed that money. I really had a hard time being a single parent. And she just looked at me and she said, ‘Everything’s going to be OK.’”